In the damp clearing

If you have a bit of free time today I encourage you to have a look at Ian Brown’s article in The Globe and Mail. It’s a beautifully written piece about Banff artist Alex Emond and his love of plein air painting. And it describes perfectly so many of the sentiments that go through my head when I am painting outdoors. It made me wish I had been a fly on the wall during their conversation, except that there were no walls surrounding them out there in a damp clearing in the woods near Banff.

HI Chris. I was wondering about that comment and I have now deleted it.
It’s a small world, isn’t it? Please tell your sister to pass along the message to Alex about how much I enjoyed reading about him and his art. Now go and have your coffee.

Hello Shari,
Your blog is so beautiful and interesting! I recommanded your blog to my friens on mine:http://paulinevohl.eklablog.com. I like to see your painting and drawing every day. It’s a plaeasure for me.àPauline

So, you can delete comments? Is this what has happened to all those other comments that I have posted?
And, this new sketchbook that you have been using is interesting… do you realize that your style changes when you work in that book?

Yes, I have that power Ross. Any comments can be deleted if I choose but some reason yours are all still there : )
About the new sketchbook, yes, I realize that my work looks a bit different. It’s partially the very absorbent paper but also my conscious effort to be less precise and more loose in my sketches.

I just scanned that article and have saved it in my “Art” picture folder on my computer. (I’ve had the article kicking around for some days now).
I liked the article too – and the painting as well.
I was in Jackson Hole, Wyoming a couple of summers ago and there are many galleries there. There were some gouache / watercolours done plein air by an artist rafting down one of the big western rivers. They were superb and I would have bought one if I had the dough to spare. Alex’s painting reminded me of the spirit of those – as open in spirit as nature itself.

Matthew, I’m so glad to hear that you read the article also. I still think about it often.
And maybe you’ll have a chance to get back to Jackson Hole one of these days with a bit more dough in your pocket…